Stockton was described in the Boldon
Book of 1183AD as having 'eighteen farms, three families with a
cottage but little land, a smith and a ferry across the River Tees'.
At this time Stockton was an agricultural village rather than a
town.

At
some point in the 1200s Stockton was granted Borough status, meaning
that the Crown granted it self-governance. The borough was
controlled by the Bishop of Durham who developed the wide High Street
lined with tenements or burgages on either side. The burgages
would have contained a commercial property fronting directly on
to the High Street. To the rear would be yards and outbuildings
where commercial and industrial activity might take place.
The pattern of long narrow plots with rear yards can still be seen
in the town today. Burgage holders would pay rent to the Bishop
and were taxed on the goods bought and sold. In a survey of
1382AD there were 46 recorded burgage tenements.

The
plan to the right shows the relative location of the original agricultural
village, the borough or town with its wide High Street and the Bishop's
residence or castle.

We
know that the Bishop had a residence in the town which became known
as Stockton Castle. Archaeological excavations in the 1960s
in advance of construction of the Swallow Hotel and multi-storey
car park recovered evidence of high status Norman stonework dating
from 1150-1170AD. These stones would have been part of a high
status hall. King John stayed here in 1200AD, 1210AD and
1212AD. The Bishop's Hall was rebuilt in 1316AD and a moat
was dug around it. The site is described as a castle from
this period onward.

During
the English Civil Wars of the mid 17th century the castle was held
by Scottish forces on behalf of Parliament, but in 1647 the House
of Commons gave the order that Stockton Castle be 'made untenable
and the garrison disgarrisoned’. It was destroyed shortly
afterwards.

In
the 1660s the town was described as having only houses of thatch
and timber and the impression is of a dilapidated medieval town.
However from about 1680 to 1710 there was a major rebuilding of
the houses of Stockton using brick and tiles and quite probably
stone salvaged from the castle as is supposed to be the case in
Finkle Street.

Stockton
boomed as a commercial centre in the 18th century and the buildings
reflect this. Numbers 28-29 Silver Street are typical small 18th
century houses, although now heavily re-built.

The
novelty of using brick is shown by the decorative string course
above the first floor windows and at eaves level.

On
a grander scale, buildings such as 16 Church Road
represent high status town houses built for wealthy merchants
and other notable townsfolk. This example is built in the symmetrical
style of the 18th century and is highly decorated
with an elaborate doorcase and heavily dressed first floor windows
which lit the more social rooms of the building.

The
servants would have been accommodated in rooms in the roof or at
the back of the house and would have used a separate side or rear
entrance.

Notable
public buildings were added to the town at this time including the
Town House (now the Town Hall) in 1735. The parish church
was also completely rebuilt in this period.

The
early 19th century saw a continuation of the 18th century prosperity
but as the century passed Stockton became increasingly industrialised
with the development of the railways, local ironworks and foundries,
shipyards and a variety of other industries. This led to an increase
in population and more intensive use of properties in the town centre
to house the growing population.

Purpose
built buildings start to appear to house specific needs such as
banks, public houses and department stores.

Nineteenth
century buildings were more highly decorated and different coloured
brick was often used to pick out detail or to add decorative bands
to buildings. Advances in transport meant that slate could
be imported relatively cheaply and this material became widely used
for roofing rather than clay pantiles.

The
20th century started with a commercial exuberance in Stockton as
buildings were constructed with ever more elaborate fronts and the
designs of the Art Nouveau movement began to be translated into
mass architecture.

This
phase of Edwardian extravagance came to a shocking halt with the
First World War. After the First World War we see the development
of new styles based on Art Deco and a more functional approach to
architecture. The Globe Theatre at the northern end of the
High Street is a good example of this.

In
2009 Tees Archaeology began to work with local volunteers to create
a ‘snapshot in time’ of the buildings in the historic town centre.
Teams of volunteers photographed the buildings of the town on a
street-by-street basis. They then carried out research using
historic maps, local directories and written histories to reveal
more about the origin of each building and its past uses.

The
project finished in Autumn 2013. Highlights of the project
included a dayschool held at Arc in 2012 with local broadcaster
John Grundy providing the keynote speech and acting as chair for
the day. In Spring 2014 we published a booklet about the historic
buildings of the town.

Further
Information

The
synopsis of papers from the 2012 Dayschool and the booklet can be
downloaded in .pdf format below:-